Councillors: HSE chiefs trying to gag media

HEALTH Service Executive officials have been accused of trying to gag the media by barring journalists from a meeting at which health cuts will be discussed.

At a HSE south forum meeting in Cork, earlier this month, officials refused to outline planned health cuts.

Instead, they told 39 county councillors on the forum to find out for themselves what the cuts were and present their allegations to a special forum meeting which will be held in Kilkenny on December 13.

The forum covers health services in Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny.

A number of councillors said yesterday it was their impression the media would be allowed to attend that meeting, because it was a continuation of the Cork meeting which was open to the press.

But the HSE has informed its chairman, Cllr Liam O’Doherty, that the press will not be welcome as the meeting will be held “in committee”.

Mr O’Doherty said councillors wanted the media present and he would be writing to the HSE seeking to overturn its ruling.

“I am very disappointed by this. It’s a ploy to gag the media.

“Councillors were under the impression that we would have a full meeting first on the cuts and this would be followed by the ‘in committee’ meeting.

“The public have a right to know what’s happening,” said Mr O’Doherty.

He added that he was also angry that he still hadn’t received a reply from the HSE to a question he asked last Monday, which was about how many cancer misdiagnosis cases had been identified at Cork University Hospital.

“If that’s the way officials are going to treat our chairman than what hope is there for the public finding out what’s going on,” an angry Cllr Tim Lombard said.

Mr Lombard, who leads Fine Gael’s 14 councillors on the forum, said the planned exclusion of the media was “disgraceful”.

He added: “This is a bizarre situation when the HSE is purporting to be an open and transparent body, and now it’s trying to stop the media reporting the meeting,” said Mr Lombard.

The Labour leader on the forum Cllr John Gilroy, said he was examining the HSE’s standing orders in the belief that officials cannot bar the press for the Kilkenny meeting.

“I’m not convinced this is procedurally correct. But if it is correct I will call for the suspension of standing orders at the meeting and seek the media to be immediately admitted,” he said.

“This is about public accountability,” added Mr Gilroy, a psychiatric nurse employed by the HSE.